Case Study: Leaking 3 Bar 300mm Stainless Steel Methanol Pipe Repair at Saudi Arabia Chemical Plant
A 3 bar 300mm stainless steel methanol pipe located high up in the roof of a unit at a chemical plant in Saudi Arabia undergoes repair after it was found to be leaking. Sylmasta approved installer Hamco Arabia sealed the pipe in under 30 minutes using a SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case, keeping downtime to a minimum.
Case Study Overview
Site Chemical plant
Location Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Repair Type No pressure pipe repair
Defect Leaking 300mm stainless steel methanol pipe
Repair Products
Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape, SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage,
SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case
Case Study PDF
Case Study Details
Hamco Arabia are one of the leading names providing engineering, construction and maintenance services for the industrial sector across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
One of their specialisms is pipeline installation, maintenance and repair. With this in mind, Hamco recently joined the Sylmasta network as an approved installer of SylWrap pipe repair products in the region.
Not long after partnering with Sylmasta, Hamco were asked to repair a leaking 300mm stainless steel methanol pipe at a major chemical plant in Dammam – the oil capital of Saudi Arabia and the country’s economic heart.
The pipe operated at 3 bar pressure and was fixed high up in the roof of a unit, making access to the leak area difficult. Any repair materials had to be lightweight enough to reach the height of the pipe. They also needed to be easy to apply in the confined space.
An urgent response and fast repair were particularly important. Because methanol is both toxic and highly flammable, the pipe had to be taken offline as soon as it started leaking. Shutting down the system caused severe disruption to production and operations at the chemical plant.
Engineers from Hamco headed straight to the plant from their Dammam HQ, equipped with a SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case. The Contractor Kit contains enough products to make up to six live leak repairs on pipe diameters ranging from 15mm to 300mm, all stored in an easy-to-transport red case.
A scaffold tower had already been erected to reach the pipe, which could be easily climbed with the Contractor Case in hand. Once at the top of the tower, one 50mm x 4m Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape was taken from the Case and used to seal the leak.
Wrap & Seal Pipe stretches by three times its length. As it is wrapped around a pipeline, the tape amalgamates to itself to form a solid rubber band bonded to the pipe surface. The band exerts pressure over the leak, containing pipe content.
One 50mm x 4m Wrap & Seal applied to a 300mm pipe offers maximum pressure resistance of 4 bar – more than enough to withstand the 3 bar operating pressure of the system.
Had Hamco wanted to increase the safety factor of the repair, they could have applied another tape on top. A second Wrap & Seal would amalgamate to the first in the same way, building a repair with resistance to 8 bar.
Two of the Hamco team worked together to apply the tape, passing it between themselves underneath the pipe. This allowed them to maintain maximum stretch and tension for the most effective seal possible.
The methanol pipe was then reinforced with SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage. SylWrap is a composite wrap with a water-activated resin. Wrapping and smoothing SylWrap over the repair area created a rock-hard, impact resistant shell to protect Wrap & Seal and strengthen the pipe.
Once SylWrap had fully cured, the system was turned back on. No methanol was leaking from the pipe, indicating the SylWrap repair had been a success.
From when they arrived at the site, it took Hamco under 30 minutes to seal the leak. The chemical plant were so impressed with how the Contractor Case significantly reduced downtime, that they have asked Hamco to supply more Sylmasta pipe repair and refurbishment products for use across the site.
Products Used
Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Repair tape amalgamates to form a solid rubber band containing high pressure leaks
SylWrap HD Bandage
Composite wrap sets rock hard around pipes, creating an impact resistant shield
Pipe Repair Contractor Case
Easy-to-store Case containing enough Wrap & Seal and SylWrap for multiple repairs
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